Conveyer for piling coal



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

J. M. DODGE. GONVEYER FOR FILING GOAL.

No. 404,263. Patented May 28, 1889.

ATTORNEY,

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. M. DODGE. GONVEYER FOR FILING GOAL.

No. 404,263. Patented May 28, 1889.

f Fl .6. WIT/V5885? j MUM N70,?

i Y Afforney N. PETERS. Pholu-l-ilhilgmpher, Wzdlinglm'QiO ATENT JAMESM. DODGE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE DODGE COALSTORAGE COMPANY, OF NAUGATUOK, CONNECTICUT.

CONVEYER FOR PILING COAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 404,263, dated May 28,1889.

Application filed December 17, 1887. Renewed March 20, 1889. Serial No.304,052. (N0 model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES M. DODGE, of Philadelphia, in the county ofPhiladelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImproved Oonveyer for Piling Ooal; andI do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this application.

My invention relates to that kind of chain conveyers that are adapted tohandling coaland other material in building the material up into pilesor heaps, (an instance of which kind of chain conveyers is seen inanother application by me, No. 250,316,) and has for its object toovercome the difficulty in the use of such contrivances (especiallywhere the elevated runs of the conveyer-chain are of considerablelength) that arises from the tendency of the upper run to twist or turnover owing to the tipping of the upwardly-projecting flights of suchupper run. As heretofore constructed it has been found in practice,especially Where the elevated upper run of the chain is of great length,(no matter whether suspended in an oblique or in a horizontal line,)that the great weight of the series of metallic flights apparentlybalanced edgewise on the chain causes the flights to tip over at one orthe other end, and to thus twist the chain, and that this permits theflights and chain to get into improper positions at the vicinity ofwhere they run onto and off from the sprocket-wheels, the result ofwhich is that the chain and Wheel (or wheels) are liable to get out ofgear and cause derangement, breakage of parts, or serious trouble. Inother words, it has been found in practice that in the use of a longdouble run of chain .with the usual large and heavy flights and used (asis necessary in this kind of an apparatus) without any trough to confineor hold in place the flights, the latter cannot be maintained in abalanced position during the upper run of the chain, because of theinevitable slack in this part of the chain due to its great length andgravity, and increased from the fact that the lower run (with itsflights always depending or hanging down) is always the working orload-moving part, so that the slack goes mostly into the idle upper runof the chain, and that as a natural consequence to this inability tokeep the flights of the upper run balanced their tipping over andconstant tendency to assume a pendent position twists the upper run ofthe chain, so that it cannot properly run into and out of engagementwith the sprocket-wheels of the conveyor.

I propose by my present invention to obviate this difficulty in the kindof conveyerapparatus alluded to, and at the same time render the generaloperation of the conveyorchain easier and better by reason of having theupper run of the chain supported at a point (or points) intermediate ofthe points at which it runs in engagement with the sprocket-wheels; andto these main ends my invention may be said to consist, essentially,first, in the combination, with the upper run of the conveyer-chain, ofmeans for maintaining the flights (at one or more localities) in anupwardly-projectii'i g condition, and thus preventing the said run ofchain and its. flights from twisting or gettinginto acondition such asto disable it from keeping in perfect on- .gagement with thesprocket-wheels, all as will be hereinafter more fully explained, and aswill be more specifically pointed out in the claims of thisspecification; second, in the combination, with the upper run of thechain, of means for both preventing any undue twist of the chain andsupporting or holding up the weight or sag of the chain at one or morepoints intermediate of the sprocketwheels over which the chain runs, allas will be hereinafter more fully explained and as will be morespecifically pointed out in the claims of this specification.

To enable those skilled in the art to which my invention relates tounderstand and prac tice the same, I will now proceed to more fullydescribe it, referring by letters to the accompanying drawings, whichform part of this specification, and in which I have shown the severalfeatures of my invention carried out in those forms in which I have sofar sum cesslully ruactiieed them, though as to each of said features myimprovements may, of course, be carried :into effect under variousinodilications or in other forms.

In the drawings, Figure 1. is a side eleva tion of a pile-makingchain-conveyor apparatus embracing the two lieatnres of my in vention.Fig. 2 a partial top view showing a portion of the horizontal chain-runand the guide-box. thereof. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view at the line:1; J of Fig. 1. Fig. l is a detail view showing one of the guide-boxesin vertical longitudinal section and drawn on an enlarged scale. Fig. 5is a detail view, on the same scale, showing said guidesbox inhorizontal section. Fig. 6 is a detail view, on an enlarged scale,better showing the construction of the take-up frame, in which one ofthe chain-wheels is preferably mounted, as will he hereinafterexplained.

In the several 'ligu res the same part will be :l'ound designated by thesame letter of reference.

A is the lower, and, n'eferably, the driving, sprocket-wheel ot theconveyor, and it has its shat't (I mounted in suitable bearing-boxes ona frame-work, ll, which in the case shown is part of the trestle-work ofan ordinary elevated-railroad track, I). Said wheel has the necessarypower and motion imparted to it, in any well-known manner, from asuitable engine or other motor, and from. it extends, ilirstobliquelyupward and then ot't .bout'lhoriztmtally, the endless-chain conveyor,the ob litpie porticm of which is marked (1 and the horizontal part l'lhis chain is provided with the usual flights, 0, and it runs obliquelyupward from the driving sprocket-wheel A to the twohorizr)ntally-located wheels I) and l), with which the upper and lowerruns of the chain, resptmtively, engage laterally, and thence said chainpasses about horizontally, as shown at 1*, to the sprocket-wheel G,around which it passes, all as clearly shown.

The shaft (l of the wheels 1) and fl) is in the case shown mounted insuitable boxes secured to the upper portion ol? the pole E, and theshaft f of the wheel G is supported, prel'erably, in a suitable take-upframe supported by the pole or standard ll. 'ihistakeup l'rame iscomposed, as will. be best seen by reference to the enlarged view atFig. (3, ol suitable cr(, ss-l.)ar, (t and journal-box frames 1/, whichbox-[frames and bar are connected by screw-rods or shafts a, each ofwhich swivelml atone end in one of thebox-Jirames, and both of whichhave their threaded portions working through :t'emale threads in thecross-bar 0?, beyond which they are provided, preferably, withsprocket-wheels d", baruled together by chainbclt c", so that turningupon said serew-sha'li't will cause the other to also turn, one olf saidshafts being provided, as shown, with a suitable handwheel, 1*.

Each of the polesor standards E and ll is, of course, suitably]iraced inthe proper directions by guy ropes or cables extending from its upperend to anchorages at the surlaee oi the ground and from the top of poleii, to that of pole E, and thence obliquely to the anchorage 7/, extendsa wire or other cable, I, which sustains in depending positions two(more or less) guide-boxes, J J one of which, J, in the case shown, iscombined with the upper run of the ol)li(p1ely-arranged portion of theconveyer-chain, and the other of which, J is combined with the upper runof the horizontal portion F of the co'nveyer. As these guideboxes aresubstai'itial duplicates, a description of one of them-for instance, Jwill explain the construction of both. The one lettered J made,preferably, in. the form of a simple rectangular tube, though it mightbe open at its upper side, (or might be a simple tubular frame-work,)and is provided with upwardly projecting arms 7', by which, through themedium of small. sheaves or anti-lfriction wheels 7', it suspended fromthe cable I in such mannor that it can be held at any desired point:beneath the obliquely-arrangcd portion ol' said cable, being held inplace longitudinally of said cable by a rope or cable, 'K, one end ofwhich is made fast to the upper end of J and the other portion of whichextends down, as shown, to within convenient reach for manipulation byhand. To the top of J is secured a cross-bar, Z, (there may be more thanone, if desired,) from each end of which descend obliquely, as shown,(see Fig. 3,) a guyrope, L, the lower end of which is suitablyanchorerjl, the said guys operating to prevent the device J fromswinging (or vilnating) to any material. extent about its points ofsuspension from the cable I. ()ne of the open ends of J is u'elerablymade slightly flaring, as shown, to insure the easy entrance thereintoof the flights 0, which at their opposite ends travel in easy contactwith the vertical sides of said device J, so that the said sides operateto hold the upper run of the chain 0 and its flights in the propercondition, or, in other words, operate to preventthis upper run of theconveyor-chain jtrom twisting.

In order to make the device J e1.'form,also, the otlice of verticallysupporting the upper run oi the chain (1, where it would. otherwise sagconsiderably and thus diminish the strain on the chain and thedraittpower necessary to run the conveyor, said device J is arranged sothat the upper run of the chain (I3 rests and travels along on top ofthe inner surface of the bottom. of said device J, which, for thepurposeof diminishing friction, may be either pro- "vided with a series ofantidfriction idler-rolls, (having their axes transverse to the tube,)or, as shown, with an endless band, M, mounted on idlersmln. at each endof the deviceJ, and having its upper run located above and its lower runbeneath the bottom or floor of J, all. as shown, (see Figs. and 5,) thesaid endless band being made, of course, to that the links of: theconveyor-chain (3 will engage with its upper run, which latter thusserves to ride the chain 0 through the guide-box with. the

least possible friction. Made and operating thus this device J performs,it will be seen, the functions of both a lateral guide to the flights cof the upper run of chain 0, to prevent said chain from twisting, and asupport to the said upper run of the conveyer-chain at a pointintermediate of its supporting sprocket-wheels A and D. Each of thesefunctions is an important and useful one, and though it is better tohave this deviceJ capable of performing both it might be made to serveeither one only of these purposes and still be a very useful addition tothe conveyer as heretofore made. I

To adjust the device .I to any point lengthwise of the upper run of thechain 0 at which it will best operate to produce the desired re sults,it is either permitted to descend on the tramway-cable I or is pulledupwardly thereon by the rope K and secured in place by the latter. Theguide-box J 2 (though similar to the one marked J) being mounted on thenearly-horizontal portion of the cable I, has connected with it aband-rope, n, that passes over sheaves or rope-wheels at 0 and 0 eitherof which may be turned (in either direction) by any suitable means tomove the band n,

and thus traverse the device J to set it at any desired position.

The general operation of the apparatus shown is about the same as thatof the one soon in my other case, hereinbefore alluded to, except as tothe horizontal extension of the convcyer (which is made the subject ofanother case filed simultaneously with this one) and the supplementaldevices J and J and their attachments and connections, the operations ofwhich devices I have above eX- plained.

It will be understood that in cases where either the obliquely or thehorizontally arranged portion of the conveyor-chain may be comparativelyvery short only one of the devices (J or J may be necessary.

In lieu of the form of device shown and described a device of differentconstruction might be used to hold the chain (against twisting) bycontact with some other portions than the vertical edges of the flights.

lVhat I therefore claim, broadly, as of my invention is 1. In acoal-pilin g chain conveyer composed wholly of an endless chain providedwith flights which project laterally in one direction, the combination,with said chain and its said flights, of a device which operates, asspecified, to prevent the flighted chain from twisting at its upper run,and means forproperly supporting said device independently of the chain,the whole arranged and operating together in substantially the mannerhereinbefore set forth.

2. In a coal-piling chain conveyer composed wholly of an endless chainprovided with flights which project laterally in one direction, thecombination, with said chain and flights, of a device operating, asspecified, to prevent any undue twisting of the upper run of the chain,and provided with means for partially supporting the gravity of saidupper run, all substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

3. A device for both supporting and preventing the twisting of the chainand its flights, composed of a tube or tubular framework and providedwith a traveling endless carrier, M, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

In witness whereof Ihave hereunto set my hand this 23d day of October,1887.

JAMES M. DODGE.

In presence of GEo. M. BAKER, A. J. B. BERGER.

